1461 – Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmet II – last Byzantine Empire remnant to fall. Emperor David exiled and later murdered.
1620 – Mayflower sets sail from Southampton, England, with 102 Pilgrims
1900 – The Boxer Rebellion: In China, the Empress, her family and court retainers flee while foreign troops move through Peking in an attempt to quell the rebellion
1947 – India gains independence from Great Britain, remains a dominion until 1950
1998 – Omagh Bombing in Northern Ireland, the worst terrorist incident of The Troubles, kills 29 people and injures about 220
2008 – Lee Berger and his nine-year-old son, Matthew, discover the two-million-year-old fossils of a new species of human ancestor (Australopithecus sediba) at Malapa Cave, South Africa
2013 – 20 people are killed and 200 are injured in an explosion in Beirut
2017 – Barack Obama’s tweet “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…” in response to Charlottesville violence becomes most-liked tweet ever
2018 – Italian PM Giuseppe Conte declares a 12-month state of emergency in Liguria after the collapse of the Morandi Bridge
2019 – Israel bars US Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering for supporting Palestinian-led boycott movement
Film & TV:
1918 – 1st full length cartoon (Sinking of Lusitania)
1939 – “The Wizard of Oz”, American musical fantasy film directed by Victor Fleming and King Vidor, premieres at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Hollywood, starring Judy Garland (Dorothy), Ray Bolger (Scarecrow), Jack Haley (Tin Man), Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion), Frank Morgan (Wizard), Billie Burke (Glinda), and Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch)
Music:
1969 – Woodstock Festival opens in Bethel, New York on Max Yasgur’s Dairy Farm; performers include Richie Havens, Tim Hardin, Ravi Shankar, Melanie, Arlo Guthrie, and Joan Baez
Sport:
1903 – New Zealand’s All Blacks play their first Rugby Test Match against Australia’s Wallabies at the Sydney Cricket Ground; New Zealand win 22-3
